Case study Cognitive value of tourism resources and their relationship with accessibility: A case of Noto region, Japan ☆ Yuta Uchiyama ⁎, Ryo Kohsaka Kanazawa University, Graduate School of Human and Socio-Environmental Studies, Kakuma, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan abstract article info Article history: Received 12 September 2015 Received in revised form 21 March 2016 Accepted 24 March 2016 Available online xxxx We analyzed cognitive values of the local residents by examining the correlation of the cognitive value and dis- tances from the place of residence by respondents. The results are from the local residents who are frequently the main stakeholders for resource managements. The research site is Noto region in Ishikawa, Japan. We identified that tourism resources can be grouped into three categories: (i) the values of resources distributed along qua- dratic functions (U curve), (ii) those that decreased along negative linear functions, and (iii) those that did not have clear linear or nonlinear relationships between accessibility and their values. Moreover, impressions by res- idents in verbal terms were examined whether these impressions had correlation with the tourism resources. The typology and their linkage to impressions by residents in quantitative approaches provide us with unique perspectives for sustainable tourism management and destination management by combining of the different tourism resources. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Accessibility Cognitive value Accurate distance Tourism resources Resident attitudes GIS Noto Japan 1. Introduction Do tourists value a destination regardless of how far away it is? If dis- tance is a factor, then to what extent does the type of resource in ques- tion (for example, a landscape, historical site, or hot spring) matter? Tourism involves a variety of different types of resources. There are landscape and food resources, which are regarded as ecosystem ser- vices, and traditional or modern festivals as well as historical sites and museums, which are valued as cultural resources. The questions above are critical for resource managers and policy makers alike, given that tourism is an industry that influences the socio-economic and environmental aspects of communities and wider regions (Lucchetti & Arcese, 2014). Tourism has a diverse range of im- pacts on a variety of resources. Each resource type, such as landscapes or historical sites, has a different spatial scale, different characteristics, and a unique location. One crucial aspect of a site's spatial characteristics is its accessibility. To provide adequate input for resource managers and policy makers, it is necessary to explore appropriate ways to manage each tourism resource, starting with distance and accessibility. To iden- tify the most effective methods, it is necessary to explore the distances and values associated with tourism resources. In the field of tourist decision-making, previous research indicates that accessibility in terms of physical distance is a primary quantitative indica- tor (Sirakaya & Woodside, 2005). When tourists choose travel destina- tions, they are influenced both by measurable distance (and accessibility) and also by cognitive distance (Ankomah, Crompton, & Baker, 1996; Massara & Severino, 2013). The importance of accurate or measurable distance is considered in the theory of tourist decision- making, where the focus is largely on the psychology or experience of tourists. Dong, Zhang, Zhi, Zhong, and Min (2011) have shown that there is a correlation between distance and willingness to pay (WTP) in re- lation to natural heritage sites, based on the contingent valuation method (CVM). Yang, Lin, and Han (2010) and Huang, Tsaur, and Yang (2012) have analyzed relationships between distance and the number of tourists at world heritage sites, and have pointed out that there is a negative correlation between distance and the number of tourists at a particular site. They regard travel cost as one cause of this negative correlation. Andriotis (2011) has grouped destinations into three categories: coastline, urban, and rural areas. He suggests that the number of tourists at each destination is related to their geo- graphic origin. The measurable distance influences not only a tourist's assessment of resources and choice of destination, but also Tourism Management Perspectives 19 (2016) 61–68 ☆ This work was supported by the [MEXT, KAKENHI 26360062]; [MEXT, KAKENHI 15H01597]; [Environment Research and Technology Development Fund 1-1303]; [The Obayashi Foundation] and [The Heiwa Nakajima Foundation]. Thanks are extend to O. Saito, S. Hashimoto, C. Kamiyama and T. Kishioka for the valuable comments, students in the Kohsaka lab and the DBJ Hokuriku branch for the technical advices. We thank the residents of Noto who answered the questions. ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: y-uchiyama@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp (Y. Uchiyama). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2016.03.006 2211-9736/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tourism Management Perspectives journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp